The Epilogue That Never Happened
by grimmkittylove
Summary: The way I personally would have written the epilogue. Assuming I had the chance. Rated K just cuz.


A train whistle blared loudly, alarming the little redheaded girl who was clinging tightly to her mother's hand

**The End- The Epilogue That Never Happened**

_(but should have)_

. : - : .

AN: This is a rewrite I did of the epilogue. The way I would have liked it to happen, because I cannot stand super-happy endings. There is a bit of Dramione if you squint.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Yet.

.-:-.

A train whistle blared loudly, alarming the little redheaded girl who was clinging tightly to her mother's hand while dragging a trunk that was nearly as large as she was. The brown-haired woman smiled down at her daughter amusedly, and tousled her hair. The young boy on the other side of her stuck his tongue out at his sister.

"Sissy. It's just a train, Rosie."

The girl glared at him from behind their mother's back. "I know that, Jonathan Fabian Weasley, thank you very much. It just startled me."

"Relax, Rose," Jonathan said with a smirk. "Hey, we get to see James and Uncle Harry today!" Rose perked up.

"Gabby and Vickie, too?"

"Yeah! Victoire and Teddy are Prefects this year, and they'll let us get away with as much as they can; I asked him!"

"I think I'll be having a talk with Teddy about the kinds of ideas he puts in my children's heads…" their mother frowned.

"Aw, Mum!" Jonathan whined. "You should be glad we've got Ted and Vickie watching out for us. I mean, what if stupid Scorpius tries to bully Rosie? They can give him detention until he dies of boredom!"

"Now, don't talk about the poor boy like that, Jonathan. He and his father have had a rough time recently."

The boy shrugged, then brightened. "Hey, do you remember the map Uncle Harry gave James when he went to school? Well, the lucky bugger found a way to duplicate it, and gave it to me! So now I can make sure…" he trailed off, giving his mother a cautious look.

The brunette shook her head, giving a tiny chuckle. "Poor Minerva. She's going to have quite a few more gray hairs by the time you lot are through school."

Rose tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Mummy, who's Minerva?"

"The Headmistress, darling. But you are to call her Professor McGonagall at all times, understand?"

"Yes, Mum." When she didn't hear an affirmative from her son, the woman turned to the boy and gave him a stern stare. Jonathan grinned sheepishly.

"You can't honestly expect me to remember that, when you call her Minerva all the time, can you?"

"Yes, I can. And I do, Jonathan."

"Aw, Mum!"

"Hey, 'Mione!" The mother of the two children snapped her head up looking for the owner of the voice she'd heard.

"Harry!" She grabbed her children's hands, and dragged them over to where a man with tousled black hair and vivid green eyes was standing with a young teenager. "And James, oh, Merlin, you've gotten big!"

"Aunt… 'Mione… let go…! Can't… breathe!" the boy gasped as his aunt enveloped him in a huge hug. She kissed his forehead, and then released him, ruffling his already untidy hair affectionately.

"It's great to see you both! Where are Teddy and Andromeda?" She looked around.

The man known as Harry pointed to a seemingly normal wall separating stations nine and ten. "They went through already, with Bill, Fleur, and George."

"Let's go, then. We don't want to be late." Harry nodded, turned around, and walked over to stand by his son, followed closely by his nephew. His companion once again took her daughter's hand and trailed after them.

"Alright, Rosie, all we have to do is walk through the wall, to the platform, okay?" She looked down at the small girl, whose eyes widened in alarm. "Watch James."

The oldest boy looked both ways, and casually pushed the trolley that held all of his belongings toward the wall, looking extremely comfortable with the action. Instead of hitting the wall when he reached it, however, James and his trolley simply disappeared into the brick. Rose stared, wide-eyed.

"Are you ready, Rose?" The little girl nodded, and gulped loudly as her mother pulled her towards the wall. She closed her eyes tightly when they got close, despite the fact that she'd seen her cousin go right through unscathed. The impact she'd braced herself for never came, and her eyes blinked open to see a huge scarlet train engine.

"Wow…" she breathed, staring up at the machine in wonder. "It's so big!"

"So it is, dearest cousin," James called from beside two other boys.

"James, who're your friends?" his aunt asked curiously.

"Christopher Finnegan, or Chris," the shorter one said amicably, waving. "And that grump over there is Shane Davies." Chris gestured to the taller, dark-haired teen to his left.

"Nice to meet you, boys," the brunette called called. "I'm James's aunt Hermione."

Two more figures appeared in front of the wall, as Jonathan and Harry ran through the barrier. The boy was panting slightly, and as he made his way over to his mother, his pace slowed considerably.

"Did I win?" he asked breathlessly. His mother laughed, and smiled.

"I'm not sure," she replied. "I wasn't aware there was a contest going on."

Jonathan frowned. "Uncle Harry said you'd know."

"Well, I don't." She looked up to meet her brother-in-law's gaze. "Harry, be honest, did you really expect me to be waiting with bated breath as the two of you came barreling through the wall? I'm not so overprotective that I think a neo-Death Eater is waiting from behind every corner, trying to get at my children."

"And I never said you were, Hermione," the black-haired man said, grinning broadly. "I just assumed that you would want to watch your only son come through."

"He's been here before, you know," Hermione shot back. "I was holding his hand when he came through last year."

"Anyways, I just though that what happened to Ron might've-" Harry belatedly realized his mistake and abandoned the sentence, but the damage had been done. Hermione's mouth tightened and she narrowed her eyes.

"We're not talking about Ron, Harry," she growled, ignoring her daughter tugging on her hand.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Just don't." She huffed and turned away, running smack into her youngest child. Rose looked up at her with large brown eyes, and Hermione softened.

"Mum, who's Ron?" Her mother sighed, and knelt down next to her.

"Ron was your father, honey. He died when you were very small, and you never knew him. He was very brave, and he died honorably, protecting us from bad guys. I miss him very much. That's why I don't like to talk about him."

"How did you know that was what I was going to ask?"

Hermione smiled, and ruffled her daughter's hair. "Magic."

"Mum, you tell me that all the time. Is it just because you don't know?"

"No, dear," Hermione said, smiling wider. "It really is magic. It's called Legillimency."

"Oh."

The train whistle exploded into another loud blast, jolting the brunette into awareness. "Oh my lord, Rosie, get on the train, find your brother, and get a compartment. I love you, and I'll see you at Christmas!" The redhead nodded, her eyes wide, and hugged her mother tightly.

"I'll miss you Mum."

"Hurry, hurry, darling!" The little girl smiled, picked up her trunk, and headed onto the train, where a conductor took her luggage. A few moments later, the train gave one last whistle, and began to move.

Rose's face appeared in one of the windows a moment later, and Hermione waved. Her daughter waved back, but soon was out of sight.

A blonde man dressed in expensive looking robes approached her as the train chugged out of the station, and stood quietly next to her for a few moments before she noticed his presence. She gave a start when she finally realized who he was, but forced herself to relax.

"Draco."

"Hermione." Their exchange was light, though cautious, and quite unlike the ones they'd had in school. They stood there in comfortable silence for a moment, until he spoke again. "I heard you reprimanding your son earlier. Thank you. I'm not sure Scorpius would take it well if Jonathan suddenly started talking about his mother…"

"You're welcome. I wouldn't want my children to be a source of... pain… for anyone else." He nodded shortly.

"So how are you faring?"

"I'm… surviving. Mostly thanks to my son. Astoria filed for the divorce a few weeks ago, but it's not going to be easy, since it was a magical, arranged marriage…"

The brunette smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

He waved it off. "Not your fault. I just wish we could have called it off earlier. Before a child was brought into it. Not that I regret it, exactly," he amended. "Just that I wish we'd ended it before he got too attached to either of us."

"My children never knew their father, or their aunt," Hermione mused. "Harry's become like a father to them, after Ginny died, and he had no feminine influence on how he raised James. I think the kids want to push us together, but…"

"You're best friends, and it would be awkward," her companion finished. She nodded.

A comfortable silence washed over them for a moment, until someone standing behind them cleared his throat. They jumped apart, as they'd unconsciously been getting closer, and turned to see Harry there.

"Ready to go, 'Mione?" the black-haired man asked loudly, his voice echoing in the by-now empty platform.

"Just a moment, Harry." She turned to Draco. "It was very nice talking to you, Draco. Perhaps I'll see you at work?"

"Perhaps." He gave a rare smile, and gave her a little push. "Go on, your Prince Charming awaits."

"Ew," Harry commented. "I'd never marry my dead wife's dead brother's widow." He paused. "Merlin, did that sound weird."

The trio on the platform burst into laughter, forgetting entirely the enmity that had once separated them completely. For a moment, they were three people brought together by laughter. When the chuckles subsided, Draco straightened up, his face once again masked and wiped of all emotion.

"I have a meeting in a few minutes," he said stiffly. "I should probably be going now."

Harry checked his watch. "Blimey, I'm late for practice. Sorry, 'Mione, Draco. Quidditch calls, Harry goes! Cheers." With that, he smiled, waved, and disappeared with a loud 'pop!'

Draco and Hermione stared uncomfortably at each other for a moment. The blonde man broke the spell, and looked away first. "I really must be going."

"Of course. I'm not stopping you," she teased gently. "See you at work."

"Yes," he muttered distractedly. "See you there." He disappeared as well. Hermione smiled to herself, and walked over to the barrier. Taking one look back, she steeled herself and stepped through the barrier.

.-:-.

AN: Haha! Now Review!


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